+Kimbra, Vows: Her debut effort gets its Stateside release. Vows shuffles through a variety of genres, from the jazzy pop grooves of “Settle Down” to the R&B-inflected “Something In The Way You Are” and “Come Into My Head,” as well as the soulful “Plain Gold Ring.” It’s an eclectic brew that’s unified by her versatile vocals.

+ Garbage, Not Your Kind Of People: Many female frontwomen are indebted to Shirley Manson, whose powerful alterna-pop voice broke through a haze of ’90s male grunge and propelled several Garbage songs into big hits. Coupled with the band’s electro-rock instrumentation, along with Butch Vig’s production sensibilities, their new album is a welcome return to form.

+ Haley Reinhart, Listen Up!: Runners-up on “American Idol” can become as big (if not bigger) than the winners themselves (see: Adam Lambert, Katharine McPhee). Haley Reinhart placed third last season, and with songs like “Free” from her debut album, she could be poised for runners-up luck, too.

Check out more new album releases and upcoming TV appearances and performances after the jump.

+ El-P, Cancer For Cure: Fresh off producing Killer Mike‘s R.A.P. Music, El-P drops his first solo rap album in five years. The indie rapper orchestrates muscular, bottom-rattling instrumentation that coils excellently around his fiery flow. Guests include Killer Mike, Interpol‘s Paul Banks and Danny Brown.

+ John Mayer, Born And Raised: Recently John Mayer’s had to take a break from singing due to vocal cord granuloma, but he returns on record with his release of a more country-tipped, introspective set as evidenced by his twangy single, “Shadow Days.” He’s also joined by legends David Crosby and Graham Nash on the title track.

+ Gossip, A Joyful Noise: Powerhouse singer Beth Ditto and her band shellac a funky dance sheen onto their latest effort. Explaining the shinier production, she told MTV, “After 13 years, you start out so bare-bones and so stripped-down, and you don’t have a lot of money, so being at this point, we had time… We got to experiment a lot.”